Is Quebec in the process of inventing the law of maximum emm… with regard to the non-vaccinated? The Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault (coalition Avenir Québec, center-right nationalist) in any case pulled out of his sleeve, Tuesday, January 11, a measure which directly targets their portfolio: he intends to inflict on them “a significant health contribution“, he announced, without further details. The objective is to bring to these “10% of the Quebec population”, most “which occupies half of the beds in intensive care”, part of financial burden on a health care system on the verge of asphyxiation, with nearly 3,000 hospitalizations due to the Omicron wave.
Punitive malus
This punitive “penalty” comes after other measures taken to complicate the life of the non-vaccinated: from next January 18, you will have to show your vaccine passport to buy alcohol or cannabis in state stores that ensure sales in Quebec. A stroke of political pressure which intends to respond to the growing discontent of those who, in the Belle Province, believe they have “played the game– 90% of the eligible population received at least one dose – and were handed new health restrictions on New Year’s Eve, with curfews and private gatherings banned. Critics of the mismanagement of the fifth wave have also ended up costing his post to the director of public health, who has just resigned.
Principle of “polluter pays”
But this “health contribution“, inspired by the ecological tax “polluter pays“, is not unanimous. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe questioned the “constitutionality“of such a measure which could contravene section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the fundamental law which guarantees to all “access to health, security and life “. Others raise ethical issues relating to the financing of care. “HHistorically, Canada has chosen to fund care regardless of risk, said Damien Contandriopoulos, professor at the school of nursing at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), on Radio Canada. Whether you are likely to need care or in perfect health, without ever going to consult, your contribution is independent of your risk. This principle is really fundamental.”
“Privacy Policy”
In other words, will the next step be to charge the smokers, the obese, the old or the daredevil skiers who cause additional costs to the health system? The Canadian Civil Liberties Association protests against this “privacy policy“that she sees dawning:”In Canada, she said, individuals are not fined for making poor choices in diet and exercise, nor are they fined for choosing a high-risk occupation or hobby… Basic health care for sick people transcends these individual choices.“Finally, even if the antivax tax proposal does not challenge the principle of universality of care – whether he pays the tax or not, the patient will be treated – it seems to ignore the most vulnerable part of the population, namely the homeless or people with mental health problems, kept away from the vaccine, without ideological consideration.
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Trudeau kicks into touch
Asked about the Quebec initiative, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau kicked in, saying he was waiting “More details” to decide. But he recalled that the federal government had not been outdone in multiplying the “incentives“to get vaccinated, by imposing the sesame on federal civil servants and on all citizens wishing to take the train or the plane. Failing to recall that in terms of coercion for the unvaccinated, the federal minister responsible for employment insurance had brandished the threat at the end of December to deprive of unemployment benefits all those who would lose their job or would not find one, for lack of accepting the doses of vaccine…
